Paramedic Study Notes

This is a collection of paramedic study notes that I have collected throughout the past 10 years of being employed as a paramedic and sitting multiple paramedic exams and re-certifications. I have tried to incorporate the most relevant notes on common emergency presentations that paramedics attend and the most useful paramedic science notes.

Paramedics attend medical emergencies on a day to day basis and although no two cases are identical, as a paramedic gains experience he or she tends to develop a clinical “catalogue” of typical emergencies that they attend so that they can accurately identify important clinical factors and scene assessments in order to make important connections that result in identifying critical pathologies and their management processes. It is this “catalogue” of emergency cases that often allow senior paramedics to appear like they have a sixth sense or a gut instinct. When in reality, it is a basic subconscious resource folder that all paramedics, with time should develop.

Recognising key clinical indicators or scene assessment findings that determine the type of medical emergency that your patient has is important, but also requires a good understanding of the actual human physiology and pathophysiology behind the clinical symptoms and manifestations. These are good paramedic notes relating to paramedical science that underpins the basis of much that we do as paramedics:

Scene management is often considered one of the hardest skills to develop as a paramedic and yet is one of the most important skills and, how well a paramedic performs in this area, will often determine whether he or she is in fact a good paramedic.

At the end of the day being a good paramedic takes time and experience, on the road. These are the paramedic notes that I’ve accumulated during my time as a student ambulance paramedic. Paramedicine is currently changing faster than any other time since the introduction of stretcher bearers, and a good paramedic never stops learning and never feels like they “know it all.”

There will always be someone else out there who has seen a better way of doing something, or have heard of a new clinical concept. Like studying any other topic, it is important to continue learning and consider all that other paramedics have to offer you. Remember, even the bad paramedics are able to teach you what not to do.